John Harmon (actor)
Encyclopedia
John Harmon was an American actor
.
Harmon was a very prolific bit actor
. His career spanned over six decades and almost 300 movie and television roles in a wide variety of genres. Many of his earlier appearances are uncredited. His first major screen credit was in I was framed (1942). His movie career highlights were roles in Gallant Bess
, The Monster of Piedras Blancas
, Live Fast, Die Young
and The Street is my Beat. The movie in which he made his last screen appearance, The Naked Monster
, was released 20 years after his death. Harmon's most notable TV roles were in Bonanza
, Perry Mason
, Star Trek
, and The Rifleman
(as the hotel clerk Eddie Halstead).
In his later years, Harmon became a used books dealer in Los Angeles. He collected first editions of Mark Twain
. He suffered a stroke about a year before he died from heart failure.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Harmon was a very prolific bit actor
Bit part
A bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue . In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes...
. His career spanned over six decades and almost 300 movie and television roles in a wide variety of genres. Many of his earlier appearances are uncredited. His first major screen credit was in I was framed (1942). His movie career highlights were roles in Gallant Bess
Gallant Bess
Gallant Bess is a motion picture released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1946. It was loosely based on the true story of U.S. Navy Warrant Officer Arthur Parker's rescuing of an injured filly during World War II. Portions of the movie were filmed on the coast of Santa Barbara, California, in October 1945...
, The Monster of Piedras Blancas
The Monster of Piedras Blancas
The Monster of Piedras Blancas is a 1959 science fiction/horror film written and directed by Irvin Berwick and starring Jeanne Carmen, Les Tremayne, John Harmon, Don Sullivan, Forrest Lewis, and Pete Dunn...
, Live Fast, Die Young
Live Fast, Die Young (film)
Live Fast, Die Young is a 1958 film directed by Paul Henreid and written by Ib Melchior. The film stars Mary Murphy, Norma Eberhardt, Mike Connors and Sheridan Comerate...
and The Street is my Beat. The movie in which he made his last screen appearance, The Naked Monster
The Naked Monster
The Naked Monster is a 2005 American ultra low-budget science fiction and horror comedy film written by Ted Newsom and directed by Newsom and Wayne Berwick as an homage to and spoof of the "giant monster-on-the-loose" films of the 1950s...
, was released 20 years after his death. Harmon's most notable TV roles were in Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, and The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
(as the hotel clerk Eddie Halstead).
In his later years, Harmon became a used books dealer in Los Angeles. He collected first editions of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
. He suffered a stroke about a year before he died from heart failure.